Fewer than half the Orthodox world's 14 main churches are due to attend a late February summit on Ukraine's new independent Orthodox church, convened in Jordan with backing from Russia's Moscow Patriarchate.
"As we have all recognised, dialogue and reconciliation between brothers is the only way forward", the summit's organiser, Patriarch Theophilos Giannopoulos of Jerusalem, told church leaders.
"This will not be an official synod, but rather a fraternal meeting to inaugurate dialogue on challenges facing the Orthodox community at this critical time, as we continue to use every means of communication with the Ecumenical Patriarchate in order to reach a consensus."
The 67-year-old patriarch sent the open letter ahead of the 25-27 February summit in Amman, called to debate ways of settling disputes over the new church.
He said the talks would centre on how best "to preserve unity in the Orthodox community", and would be followed by others.
However, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, whose leader, Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, is acknowledged as "first among equals" in the Orthodox hierarchy, confirmed it would not recognise the Amman meeting.
Orthodox leaders in Greece, Bulgaria and Georgia also refused to take part, with churches in Romania and Poland announcing they would send low-level delegations in hopes of contributing to a "pan-Orthodox consensus" and patching up ties between Moscow and Constantinople.
The head of Albania's Orthodox church, Archbishop Anatasios Yannoulatos, said initiatives for "healing the new reality regarding Ukraine" belonged to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, adding that Patriarch Theophilos's agreement to host the summit during a November visit to Moscow had evoked a "negative response" and would complicate ties rather than "contribute to improved unity".
Meanwhile, Patriarch John Yazigi of Antioch said he was also concerned "to avoid whatever increases divergence and deepens rifts", and believed "unanimous consensus" based on scripture and tradition was the "essential rule" among Orthodox churches for "resolving outstanding issues".
Russian Orthodox leaders severed all ties with the Patriarch Bartholomew for issuing a "tomos of autocephaly" establishing the separate Ukrainian church in January 2019, and are urging other Orthodox denominations to shun the church, which has been recogised so far by the Orthodox Church of Greece and Patriarchate of Alexandria.
In a Tass agency interview last Friday, President Vladimir Putin of Russia said Ukraine's Orthodox church had always been "completely independent" of the Moscow Patriarchate, despite its formal affliation, adding that the independent church was being supported by those who feared "the capacities and competitive advantages" of Russian-Ukrainian unity. However, this was rejected by Ukraine's preident, Volodymyr Zelensky, who told an American newspaper the new church's creation had been "a decision exclusively of the people, initiated by its congregation according to church rules and legalised by the tomos document".
Addressing a memorial service in Rome's St Sophia cathedral, the head of Ukraine's Greek Catholic church, Archbishop Svietoslav Shevchuk, paid tribute to those killed during his country's 2014 Maidan Square uprising, adding that he believed their "blood and sacrifice" would guarantee Ukrainians "never again fall under the yoke of an ungodly power which denies their right to freedom".
Besides Patriarch Theophilos, the Amman summit was set to be attended by Russia's Patriarch Kirill and Serbia's Patriarch Irinej, with several Orthodox leaders still to declare by mid-week.
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